The End of Days
by Korsriddare
Summary: An evil more primal than the Demon King has been awakened. As Magvel faces destruction, Eirika and Seth struggle to survive. Eirika, Seth, various others.


**Title: **The End of Days**  
Author:** Korsriddare**  
Characters:** Eirika, Seth, other TSS characters**  
Rating:** K+**  
Summary:** An evil more primal than the Demon King has been awakened. As Magvel faces destruction, Eirika and Seth struggle to survive.**  
Spoiler(s):** References and some endgame spoilers of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones.**  
Disclaimer:** Not mine, sorry.

* * *

They arrived a week after the dispatch.

The desert breeze was gentle for now, carrying with it the typical heat and dryness of Jehanna. Forde motioned to the other Knights to guard the parameter as he stumbled his way along the sand with Kyle.

"I don't like this," the green-haired knight murmured as they approached the camp. It seemed deserted, and that impression did not change when they walked past the makeshift fence that surrounded the camp. Where were the mercenaries escorting the scholars? Surely some of them must be on guard duty, right?

Forde attempted to lighten the mood with an easy smile, "Perhaps they found some kind of treasure, and are all busy discussing how to distribute loot." However, having said that, he did not like it either. The shifting sand hid marks and trails well, but there were absolutely no signs of any battle or struggle at the camp, so there should be no reason for this complete emptiness. Furthermore, the mercenaries were professional – even if there were something valuable to be distributed, it was unlikely for Gerik _not_ to post any guards around the camp at all.

They continued deeper into the camp, where the dig site was. The excavation appeared to be completed, with wooden scaffolding used to support the sides of the dig. The two knights walked down the planks laid on the sand, following the slope to some kind of stone entrance within the sand. It was shaped like an arch, and the top reached slightly above the sand.

"This must be how they found the ruins," Kyle observed as he peered at the smooth surface of the structure. Forde nodded quietly. No wonder it had gotten all the academic-types around Magvel excited, the ruins could be confirmation of how civilization before the Demon King's first appearance was like! Still, it did not look its part as ruins. The entrance seemed to be well preserved, and the stairs that he could see indicated that the interior might just be intact too.

"Let's venture where no knights had gone before, shall we?" he grinned lightly as he entered the structure with Kyle just behind. The first few dozen steps were covered with desert sand, and it added to the cold feeling in his guts. Just how long was it unattended? He kept that to himself as they descended for what felt like hours. They were amazed when they reached the bottom of the stairs, and found themselves in a corridor.

A well-lit corridor.

It was rectangular in shape, and stretched out straight ahead for a long distance. Long enough that they could not see clearly what was at the other end. The surface was dark and smooth - it appeared to be made of the same material as the exterior. A single line at the top of the corridor glowed brightly, providing illumination for the walkway even as it extended as far as they could see. It would have taken a lot of torches to provide equal brightness, yet they could not feel any heat.

"Magic?" Forde asked rhetorically.

"Magic," his companion replied as they walked carefully onwards. The blonde knight could not shake away the instinct telling him to run away. Maybe it was the distance from the entrance that prevented them from hearing the desert wind, but it felt too quiet.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up as they exited the corridor to a huge chamber. It appeared to be hemispherical in shape, the walls curling away from the corridor behind them. Unlike the corridor, the glowing lines of light were on the floor instead, and from what they could see, the chamber was made of the same material like the rest of the ruins. There was a soft whispering, and Forde quickly turned his head around.

Nobody.

"Did you hear that?" He said to Kyle. The other man shook his head, and continued to walk on. Their plate boots were far from silent, yet despite the size of the chamber – it could probably fit in Castle Renais in its entirety - there were no echoes to be heard. Curiouser and curiouser indeed.

After what seemed like hours, they reached the other end of the chamber, catching sight of a lone figure. The knights quickened their pace, and came to a halt near the man, and what appeared to be some kind of altar. It was a pyramid a little shorter than the man, sleek and black and covered with glowing words.

"A-ah. You are f-f-finally here," the frail-looking man turned to face them, and Forde bit back a wince. From his outfit, he was probably one of the scholars, but there was something off about him. The slight hunch in the way he stood, the manner of his speech, the pale skin, the saggy skin barely clinging on to his bones – when was the last time he had a meal? But the worst part was his eyes – darting about with a wild look, the crimson web of veins clearly visible.

"Sir, are you alright? Where are the others?" He heard Kyle asked. His mind was on other things, however. The soft whispering had returned, though he could not make out the words. Was the enormity of the ruins finally making his mind play tricks on himself? Forde shook his head once more, deciding to focus on the altar. The lettering were familiar, some of them clearly a precursor to modern tongues in Magvel. Ah! And there near the top was a series of symbols that looked vaguely familiar to the royal crests of Renais, Frelia and the other sacred stone nations, and others that were completely unfamiliar. It was probably why the dispatch was sent to them. He could not recognise most of the words, though some had enough familiar letters that sent a chill down his spine.

…_parasite…contain…stop …_

A deranged laughter jarred him out of the line of thought as he looked back at the scholar. "The g-g-greatest academic discovery of all-all time!"

"Sir?"

"Come, come. Be ho-honored that you are here at the mo-moment of truth!"

The frail man turned back to the altar, and began to murmur words he had not heard before. Yet at the same time, he developed goose bumps, for there was something utterly wrong about the words, and he could not pinpoint why. The glowing lines began to pulse brightly, the chamber began to shook, and the whispering at the back of his head became louder.

Turning his head away from the sudden influx of light, Forde finally found the missing members of the camp. _Oh Gods._ Sitting along common intervals around the walls of huge circular chamber were bodies, with their throats slit and blood already dried. Drawing his sword out, he turned to the scholar…

…Just in time to see him slitting his own throat with a dagger that came out of nowhere, a crazed smile still on his lips.

"Kyle, we need to get out of here, whatever's here, we need to get help, fast," he urged, unable to keep the panic out of his voice.

"No, we don't, Forde. We don't."

"What? My friend, I know we dealt with the Demon King, but with just the two of-" his words died in his throat as Kyle turned to him, the bloodshot eyes condemning his status as surely as the man bleeding out on the ground. The soul-less gaze spoke of madness, of pain, of unspeakable things. Was it why he was so quiet on their descent, had the whisperings got to him already?

The ground opened up, and his thoughts were no longer his own.


End file.
